Cornell University

'Tunable' metal nanostructures for fuel cells, batteries and solar energy

(PhysOrg.com) -- For catalysts in fuel cells and electrodes in batteries, engineers would like to manufacture metal films that are porous, to make more surface area available for chemical reactions, and highly ...

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Apr 03, 2012 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

3-D, after-the-fact focus image sensors invented

(PhysOrg.com) -- At the heart of digital photography is a chip called an image sensor that captures a map of the intensity of the light as it comes through the lens and converts it to an electronic signal.

Technology / Engineering

created Apr 03, 2012 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Scientists predict an out-of-this-world kind of ice

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cornell scientists are boldly going where no water molecule has gone before -- that is, when it comes to pressures found nowhere on Earth.

Physics / Condensed Matter

created Jan 17, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (19) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

In nitrogenase - enzyme critical for life, X-ray emission cracks mystery atom

Like a shadowy character just hidden from view, a mystery atom in the middle of a complex enzyme called nitrogenase had long hindered scientists' ability to study the enzyme fully.

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 17, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Chemically assembled metamaterials may lead to superlenses

(PhysOrg.com) -- Nanomanufacturing technology has enabled scientists to create metamaterials -- stuff that never existed in nature -- with unusual optical properties. They could lead to "superlenses" able ...

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Nov 02, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 7 | with audio podcast

Transistors are made from natural cotton fibers

(PhysOrg.com) -- Smarter, more functional clothing incorporating electronics may be possible in the near future, according to a study co-authored by Cornell fiber scientist Juan Hinestroza.

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Oct 27, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

96 percent of vertebrates -- including humans -- descended from ancestor with sixth sense

(PhysOrg.com) -- People experience the world through five senses but sharks, paddlefishes and certain other aquatic vertebrates have a sixth sense: They can detect weak electrical fields in the water and use ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 11, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (19) | comments 41 | with audio podcast

Rare particle decay could mean new physics

(PhysOrg.com) -- An incredibly rare sub-atomic particle decay might not be quite as rare as previously predicted, say Cornell researchers. This discovery, culled from a vast data set at the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), ...

Physics / General Physics

created Aug 23, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (22) | comments 27 | with audio podcast

Pixel perfect: Cornell develops a lens-free, pinhead-size camera

(PhysOrg.com) -- It's like a Brownie camera for the digital age: The microscopic device fits on the head of a pin, contains no lenses or moving parts, costs pennies to make – and this Cornell-developed ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Jul 06, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (23) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Robot walks a 40.5-mile ultramarathon without recharge (w/ video)

(PhysOrg.com) -- Pulling an all-nighter and then some, the Cornell robot Ranger set a new world record May 2 by walking 40.5 miles on a single battery charge without stopping or being touched.

Electronics / Robotics

created May 11, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Swimming led to flying, physicists say

(PhysOrg.com) -- Like a fish paddles its pectoral fins to swim through water, flying insects use the same physics laws to "paddle" through the air, say Cornell physicists.

Physics / General Physics

created May 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Fingernail-sized satellites depart on Endeavor's last run

(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of Cornell-developed, fingernail-sized satellites may travel to Saturn within the next decade, and as they flutter down through its atmosphere, they will collect data about chemistry, ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 28, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (14) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Fracking leaks may make gas 'dirtier' than coal

(PhysOrg.com) -- Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale could do more to aggravate global warming than mining coal, according to a Cornell study published in the May issue of Climatic Change Letters (105:5).

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 12, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 5 | with audio podcast

Physicists measure current-induced torque in nonvolatile magnetic memory devices

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tomorrow's nonvolatile memory devices – computer memory that can retain stored information even when not powered – will profoundly change electronics, and Cornell University researchers ...

Physics / General Physics

created Mar 09, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Common parasite uncovers key cause of Crohn's

(PhysOrg.com) -- Immune systems have their sinister side, especially when they have not learned how hard to fight. Crohn's disease and other inflammatory bowel diseases inflict more than a million Americans ...

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Feb 23, 2011 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (22) | comments 12 | with audio podcast